1. 4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?
Throughout my whole production I have adapted different technologies throughout to benefit and suit
the needs of either the construction, research, planning and the overall evaluation stage.
The first main technology that I used was Blogger.
Blogger is a technology which is developed through Google, it allows people to create their own blog
and add specific posts relevant to their blog. I have used blogger massively throughout my coursework
as it has allowed me to document my work in this way, not only can I document my work through
blogger on here but it also allows me to import other technologies on to it. This technology was used
throughout the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages as it has allowed me to display
all of this through this specific technology. As I used this particular technology in AS media I have
excellent knowledge in using the technology and trust it. Due to already having an account from AS
media it was quick and simple to create a new blog on there and begin posting my relevant posts to
display my work on in relation to my whole research and production of my documentary. Blogger is
quick, simple and easy to use and an effective use of technology.

2. “New Post” button allows to easily create a
new post within the selected blog and then
goes on to give you more options to make the
post more personal, specific and give it a
name. I used this button a lot to create the
many specific posts on my blog.
When creating a new post blogger gives you the option to name the post title allowing you to keep in
order your specific posts and what's in each post. So in my case it was writing the specific post type
relevant to my work. On top of this it allows you to edit the text size, font, effects and colour using the
text bar at the top – I used this when typing straight onto my blog.
Blogger also gives you the option to post images, video clips and links
straight onto the blog. I posted a lot of archive images in here and my
feedback in a lot of cases was through video clips and edited the sizing.
Blogger allows you to upload files such as photos from
your own documents or even the website address of an
image. It also allows you to upload as many files as you
want and import them onto the blog all together. I used
the from your phone option to speed up getting the
image on there.
By clicking on your imported image blogger let me edit the size, positioning of the image or add any
captions which you may want to import. I made all of my images large/x-large to ensure that they
could be seen clearly.

3. Not only does blogger let you do simple things such as change text, insert images and clips but it also
has an option to allow you to use other technologies in there through the HTML option which allows
you to embed codes and links to insert things such as a slide share or a prezzie document. In most
cases I used slide share through blogger.
HTML option here allows you to import clips from you tube through
finding their embed code and also through other technologies which
allow you to export it through an embed code. Once pasted into here
and shared it will show up as it normally would as a clip once you
press compose or view blog. This was important for me when
inserting my work through slide share, prezzie and many other
technologies I used.
Overall blogger is an easy and useful piece of technology which was a key aspect in my coursework as
without this I wouldn’t be able to record and write down different aspects of the production and
research of creating the overall documentary. It allowed me to present my work in which ever way I
wanted through other technologies and it also allowed me to be creative with the text I used and
how I set out the posts – it is easy for people to view and look at my work through blogger.

4. Another technology which I used a lot throughout
the overall coursework was You Tube this has
played a big role in the production of the
documentary. I used you tube to import my files
that I have recorded myself such as audience
research in order to import it back into blogger. On
top of this, this is where I uploaded the
documentary to so I could access it easily to show
people for their feedback. You tube was used a lot
in the research too as this is where I searched for a
lot of archive footage and also where I searched
for specific songs that I wanted to use and embed
onto the documentary. You tube is a quick and
easy technology to use and in most cases you can
find what your looking for.
You tube has a quick and simple search bar where you can search
what you want to watch or a key word such as
songs, documentaries or silly funny videos. I used this search bar
mainly to find songs which I could use as a part of my
documentary.
You tube also lets you decide the format
and how your specific video will be
shown whether you want it to be public
or private depending on what you want
and your video. I made mine public so
that more people could view my
documentary & it made doing the
audience feedback easier.
You tube has a button called
upload which allows you to
import and upload your own
videos on to there for free. I
only used this once to upload
my documentary so I could
share it with others.

5. You tube also gives you the option to download the specific
video that you want and gives you specific options of what file
you want to download it in whereby you can then save it into
your own user area to use. I used this mainly to download
archive footage that I used within my documentary and also I
got my sound for my documentary through this and just
unlinked the video & the sound through premiere.
Overall you tube was a key factor to the overall coursework as it allowed me to broaden my research
into other documentaries and also search for good quality archive footage to use within my
documentary. I researched into other types of documentaries to get a visual idea of the codes and
conventions used, I also researched into artists which appeared on my documentary such as finding
their archive footage and also their music they have made.

6. Another technology which I used was a
technology I hadn't used before but it was key to
putting the documentary together as a whole.
Premiere allowed all footage which had been
recorded to be uploaded onto this software and
then positioned on a timeline to start actually
putting the footage together.
Premiere is simple and
easy to use – to import
files you just simply go to
file & import where it
then gives you an option
to find the specific files
you need and want to
import. Here I imported
every single file that had
been recorded.
Premiere lets you create different timelines – this is good for
when your cutting long footage as you can move it onto a
different timeline such as “keep timeline”. It also puts the audio
onto a different timeline automatically so you can edit that
separately. In my case I made separate tracks for each interview
and camera position (roamer, interviews and long shot) this
made it easier to keep them all organised and edit them
separately.
When you have put
all the files in that
you want to use they
automatically are
displayed on the left
of the page where
you can then drag it
onto the time line. I
dragged all the
different files onto
the timeline and cut
and deleted them
accordingly.
This is the video tracks in which
the video clips sit on – this is
where you can cut clips and
delete what you don’t want –
this is where the overall
sequence sits. This is where my
overall documentary is where I
have cut sections out.

7. The tool bar lets you do many different things, the main tool which I
used throughout my production was the cut tool which allowed me
to crop and cut out different parts of the recordings that I had
recorded to get the good bits out of it to use within my
documentary.
I added effects onto my sequence through the effect tools which lets
you search through different types in audio and video effects and drag
them onto the sequence. I mainly used cross dissolve between my clips
to make the documentary flow.
This allows me to watch the
development of my sequence.
This is where I can edit the audio
levels of clips in the documentary and
the overall sound quality to make it
even and professional. I used this so
that the levels of audio was even and
was all at the same sound balance to
ensure that the sound throughout the
documentary all sounded the same.

8. Throughout my coursework process it was
important that I used different methods to
display my work to show understanding.
One of the main technologies I used to
display my work was Slide Share – this
allowed me to do my work on a PowerPoint
or word then display it in a better way in a
form of a presentation where you could use
the buttons to flick from slide to slide. Slide
share was quick and simple to use all I had
to do was create an account and it was self
explanatory from there.
To start off making my slide share piece
id just simply press upload at the top of
the page.
Once clicking on the
upload button it
gives me an option
to go through my
documents and pick
which one I want to
use.
It then gives me an option to
name the document, give a
description about it and also the
category it falls into.
It then allows me to share it
how I want to such as face
book or twitter. In my case I
would just use the embed code
it provides me with and put it
straight onto my blogger.

9. Another technology which I briefly used for the
production work was Audacity. This
technology allowed me to record and put
together my radio advert for my documentary.
At first this technology wasn’t easy to use
however after practice I found it was simple to
use and effective.
I simply started by pressing the record button which will
bring up an audio timeline and sound waves will form as
I speak, I can pause at any time and continue again by
pressing record without there being some form of cut.
The play button lets me listen to what
has been recorded.
You can also
generate sounds
through audacity
and change the
tone of stuff you
have recorded
yourself.
I can also import
things back into
audacity if I
wanted to add
more or even just
change the
balance of sound.
Audacity was key and the most important factor when it came to the production of the radio ad as it
was fun and easy to record my own voice and easy to export it back into premiere.

10. The main piece of technology that I used which I wouldn’t have been able to make my documentary
without was the SONY HXR/MC200E high definition 1080p solid state camcorder.
This particular camera is a camera which can be used on a tripod or handheld – it is a high definition
professional camera which I captured all of my own footage on. It has an input to insert a sound recorder
on such as a boom mic or a clip mic for interviews. It has a preview screen on where I can see exactly what
I am recording and how it will look when it has been uploaded.
This is what picks up and
records sounds – it can be
changed to suit the needs
of what your recording.
When I was recording the
basement jaxx interview I
used the boom mike as in
the image and when I did
the interview with them I
took this out and used a
clip mic to make the sound
clearer.
This is where it picks up
what I am recording I must
always insure that when I
am recording the lens cap
isn't on and when I am not
recording it is put back on
to ensure that it is
protected.
There is also a section at
the back to plug it into the
computer to transfer clips
using a cable.
This allows me to see what I’m
actually recording and what it will
look like. It also allows me to add
effects onto there such as a grid so
my interviews shot in a rule of thirds
will be perfect.
At the back of the
camera there is an
input where you can
plug headphones in
which was important
for me to see if the
sound was working and
whether it was clear.
On the top of the camera
there is a record and pause
button so it is easy for me
to allocate these buttons if I
am holding the camera as
the other record button is at
the bottom of the camera.
Also there is a zoom in and
out button on the top of
here which came in handy
when recording basement
jaxx as it allowed me to
zoom in on shots when they
were moving away from the
camera or to capture facial
expressions.
Underneath the camera there is an option
to slide a base plate onto it which means
that I can mount it onto a tripod and it will
sit steady or I can remove this if I want to
mount the camera on my shoulder for
quicker movement known as a shoulder
shot which isn't as effective as using a
tripod.

11. Another piece of technology I used was Prezi – this
technology is good for displaying work in a more fun way &
was quick and easy to use.
Prezi gives you an option
to chose a relevant
template for the work. In
my case I picked a
simple one as I just
wanted to use this as a
form of research – which
was a brainstorm.
Once I had chosen which template I
wanted to use it let me decide the titles I
wanted to use as a part of the
document. It also lets you move around
the template if you want to make it more
specific or different such as text
size, where the text is, colour of text and
fonts.
All the different slides are displayed at
the side of the screen where you can
edit what you have already done and
zooms in on the different sections. So I
can see what I have wrote without
having to zoom on the initial slide.

12. By pressing present it allowed me to see my whole document as its final piece and
what it will look like when I save it and lets me flick through the different slides to get
a clear idea and to see whether I need to make any changes before I save it.
After completing the Prezi document I was
given the option to share it to my peers, share it
through Facebook or just save it as a pdf.